Kesler vs. Morris, O’Brien vs. The Roxy, Twitter

First, happy three-year anniversary to my loving bride-to-be. The fun part about a pre-marriage anniversary is picking the arbitrary date that the two people became an item. We picked the day Bri flew to Alaska on her spring break instead of Florida, cause lets face it, that’s a pretty big commitment.

Second,

…because, frankly, it does.

.

Let’s crank out the NHL relevant stuff before we lighten my TBAF (final explanation, that’s “to blog about files”. Anyone who joins us after this can stay in the dark on that acronym).

Kesler vs. Morris

Hmm, there goes any "from the side" argument.

Saying the hit is entirely Morris’ fault (as some people are) is a dash of wound seasoning (squeeze of lemon, pinch of salt) that the guy probably doesn’t need. What he does need, is to know that the hit was just as much his fault as Kesler’s.

As much as we want them to be, these hits are rarely one guy’s fault, black and white. This one was the perfect example.

Morris’ error is obvious – “take the hit to make the play” is an age old expression, and he tries to turn away from it (to me, it kinda highlights the way Morris plays, like the guy in shinny who’s annoyed at the guy on the other team who’s ”trying too hard”). Kesler has a ton of speed going on the forecheck, takes about four more hard strides (charge, board, call it whatever you want), then finishes a guy in a sort-of-questionable-but-not-really spot.

You know what I couldn’t help but think? Man… that’s some great work ethic by Kesler.

Shane O’Brien vs. Being Awesome

Okay, the picture kinda ruins it, but still a fun story

I have such a soft spot for this story, because as the heading indicates, I think it’s awesome. I feel like I know which guy in the dressing room O’Brien is now. The guys probably love him, but in the “you did WHAT, you idiot??” type of way. Also, I guarantee he wasn’t alone, but the other Canuck was responsible enough to make it the next day.

I also love the vague, parent-like comment by Alain Vigneault: “we have a plan for Shane O’Brien”. It’s just a fun story made more fun by the not-so-subtle clues that that SOB (Shane O’Brien) likes to have a good time a little too often.

Deadspin’s take is here – it’s entertaining, but I’ m not so sure how I feel about their assessment of the Roxy. It tries to be a dive? I kinda feel like it tries too hard not to be one.

Prust vs. Tavares

Now THAT’S being dumb. Broken neck territory on that hit.

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It’s TBAF Time!

Started my “100 Pushups” quest yesterday – turns out I won’t be able to report on progress, cause you never really bang out as many as you can until the last set when you’re SPENT. So expect less frequent updates, but know that’s it’s damn hard, and happening.

*****

Yes, I think your stupid. Funny, but stupid.

I received a question yesterday on the value of heckling (thanks for the email, Mike): it’s a rare, rare, rare case where you can make any actual difference. Group heckling is sweet, but for the most part, all of it serves no purpose other than being fun to do and entertaining for your fellow fans.

Some players say they “love to get boo’ed” and I’m FULLY one of those guys. 100%. For a confident guy, there’s something so satisfying about being the villain. You know you’re doing something right if the other teams fans have reasons to hate what you’re doing. Boos are identical to home cheers, just translated to road language.

{The only really unwelcome fan behaviour is the guys who yells a running dialogue of advice. “Shoot!” “Pass!” “Dump it in!” “C’mon coach, get Jovonovski out there!” HEY, THAT GUY. FROM A PLAYER, AND YOUR SURROUNDING FANS, GO HEADBUTT A PITCHFORK. THEY CAN’T HEAR YOU AND WE’RE NOT IMPRESSED.}

*****

Twitter is only as valuable as you make it. As in, you need to put the time into adding the right people for it to be productive and fun.

And, you can’t follow too many people, or you get so bogged down that scanning your Twitter Feed feels like ACTUAL READING, which isn’t as fun. I spend every morning cruising through, looking for the good sports links, so I wanna use today to make sure I’m not missing anything or anyone great.

cheep cheep... don't you wish I was marshmallow?

I’m gonna close out today with a list of the top people I recommend you follow to help you enjoy Twitter. In turn, I hope you give me a couple really quality names. Here goes:

Comments

What could Kesler have done on that hit to stop it? He might have taken a couple hard strides but he’s just trying to finish his check. I dunno on that one, that seemed like a dumb play from Morris plain and simple.

Both forechecking and hitting fall under the new buzzword coaches love so much, angling. Kesler has another option. Instead of taking a direct line at Morris, he can go higher (towards the blue), before coming more horizontally at him, which his coach would prefer too. Part of the reason the hit resulted in chaos is because it’s easier for Kesler to keep his speed up and take the direct line, instead of the line he should be taking.

Possibly on the rare effective heckling front: What did Darrel Hay think of most of the Sully yelling “Hay!” every time he touched the puck. There was probably near 70% crowd participation, maybe more, for a few games in the 08-09 season.

You hit the nail on the head with ““Shoot!” “Pass!” “Dump it in!” “C’mon coach, get Jovonovski out there!” being the most annoying part of being a fan. However you missed the ever popular “hey that’s Backchecking!!!”. That one always makes me roll…

What you think about the whole Mueller asking for a trade and then soaring (17 pts in 12 games) when he gets to the Avs? People think he sandbagged it in Phx, but fans obviously know little of what was really going on. How do you feel about this situation as a player? Do you need to do what’s best for you as an individual or do you languish with a team because it’s the “right thing to do”?

Finally something I’m an expert on: The Roxy
Seriously, and even Neil might agree with me on this one after the night out he had with you last year Bourne, but Roxy is the best bar in Vancouver, hands down.

Why do I say this? Easy: It’s honest.

Roxy doesn’t try to be anything. It just is. It’s a meat market. It’s a rock and roll bar. It’s a good place to see live music. It’s a celebrity hangout. It’s the only bar where you’ll see a girl celebrating her 19th birthday at one table and a recently divorced 54 year-old dude sitting at the next, and they both belong there (it gets even better when that dude decides to try to pick that 19 year-old up. Hilarity ensues).

It does all these things effortlessly and is lined up nearly every night of the week. In a city where weeknights are less-than-happening, Roxy is a guaranteed good time. Sure, you’re not always in the mood for it, but it’s a guilty pleasure. Like ice cream. It’s just fun….unless the New Jersey Devils show up and ruin your birthday, but I think I’ve covered that in a previous comment.

Amy Jo – I don’t think anyone really “sandbags it”, but when you’re unhappy with your situation, you just don’t have the drive to go that extra mile that makes the difference, you know? And I think you have to do what’s best for you as an individual, but if you’ve made the commitment to being with a team, and circumstances aren’t much different from then, you have to honor that commitment.

Neil’s Obligatory Defense of Ryan Kesler and Maligning of NHL Officials
clip on puckdaddy – http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Video-Ryan-Kesler-ejected-for-boarding-call-on-?urn=nhl,231241
Watch it or fastforward it to 0:52ish and keep your mouse over the play/pause button and watch it in slow-mo to about 0:56. @ 0:53 Morris turns and sees Kelser coming and the angle, and Morris is still sideways. There is a frame on the clip that is still within 0:54 where Kesler’s initiating the check and I can still clearly see the 53 on Morris’s arm facing the boards and Kesler has a leg on either side of Morris’s left leg. So within the space of literally .20 of a second, Morris turns, and by 0:55 he’s eating glass (I’m assuming the pic you put up is from 0:55 somewhere). Neither ref called it boarding until they saw blood on Morris, you can clearly see one ref watching the hit all the way through on the clip from a few feet away and his hand doesn’t budge. I can live with a 2 minute boarding penalty for the speed and angle but considering it was shoulder to shoulder until Morris turned literally in the blink of an eye, I don’t know how much responsibility Kesler should have for a boarding major/hit from behind. If you make that a 5-minute major and a GM, you’re sending a message that if guys don’t have the speed to get out of that hit, they should turn into the boards at the last second and try to get the guy kicked out of the game. There are enough hits exactly like that every game that a few players could get ejected in a single game if everyone decides to Derrik Morris on a hit along the boards. Even if Kesler came at Morris from a couple feet closer to the blue line with less speed, like you suggest (and I agree), couldn’t Morris still just turn at the last second into the boards and still eat glass, if he felt inclined? Stupid move, yes, but you’d still have a frame of his face hitting the glass with Kesler behind him.
In terms of seconds, there has to be some standard for how much time a forechecker needs before he is responsible for that hit from behind, and I think it has to be way more than 0.20 seconds. Beyond that…play was continuing, there was no call if not for someone dropping the gloves, so why did a no-call get suddenly changed to an ejection after the fact? There was a series of weak make-up calls/no-calls made for the rest of the game, I think they knew full well it was bullshit. I think the refs are justing covering their asses because it’s politically better right now to be too tight than too loose when a player’s head gets smacked.

@oldhossradbourn, for those of you who love baseball and late 1800s speech patterns and euphemisms. It helps that Old Hoss is a funny character.

Sucks for Phoenix fans that Mueller started raking when he went to Colorado, but if you’ve ever had a bad job, or were unhappy with your boss, or another “real life” work analogy in that vein, then you can dig it a little bit. Thing is, no matter how great he looks now…what when he gets pissy at Sacco (or Patty Roy in 2012)? Leopards rarely change their stripes.

It’s interesting that “hockey people” want more “average Joe & Jane” to become hockey fans but appear to belittle their lack of knowlege. After paying large money (some of which pays salaries) they should sit down and shut up? Is this the opera?

I would also like to chime in and add that I can’t stand when fans use players’ first names (e.g., “c’mon, Kyle!”). To take it a bit farther, they do so immediately when said-fan’s favorite touches the puck. annoying.

Al, I’m not sure I understand your complaint. I think what Justin is talking about (and I get irked by the same thing) are the folks in the stands who like to give play-by-play commentary or constantly shout orders to the players. I’m pretty sure there’s a guy behind the bench that get’s paid to direct the team, and I can watch the game with my own eyes, thanks, that’s why I’m there. After sitting next to a guy who chattered non-stop for the last home game of the NCAA team I follow (“Pick up the forecheck, boys! Cover Hagelin—he’s good! And the oh-so-insightful “Pick up on D so they don’t score again!” Thanks, Nancy Drew) I was fantasizing about the guy getting hit by an errant puck.
I am guilty of yelling “SHOOT!” after watching a team that liked to set up every powerplay shot with at least a dozen passes, more than one of which was picked off for a breakaway.

Sitting near the hockey fan equivalent of a back seat driver is annoying. They don’t need me to tell them how to play the game. I cheer, I boo the other team sometimes, I occasionally yell at officials. I, like Alanna, am guilty of an occasional “shoot the puck” after several passes out to the blue line – espcially on the power play. I think the tension gets to me…and I just can’t keep my mouth shut.

I should do an article on “SHOOT!”. I think fans underestimate the thinking on those shots – it’s not just waiting for a chance to bomb it at the goalies chest…. you don’t shoot it if you don’t have a screen (goalie’s are too good)…. eff it, I’m writing my USA Today piece for Monday on that.

Nice call on the Shoot article, it’ll be awesome. I’ve coached Bantam hockey for the past 4 years and we were playing a team in a pretty small rink. Anyways, one of the other teams dad was really vocal, to the point of being obnoxious. But i’ll never forget, he yelled at the top of his lungs “MAKE BETTER DECISIONS”. it stuck me as hilarious…maybe, maybe not. ha ha.

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About Justin Bourne

I'm a hockey player turned writer. After playing for Alaska Anchorage in the WCHA (NCAA), I carried on with an NHL tryout (New York Islanders in 2007) before spending a couple seasons in the AHL/ECHL (last year was 2008-09). My father, Bob Bourne, won four Stanley Cups with the Islanders in the '80's, as did my fiancee's dad, Clark Gillies. I'm now the web editor for theScore's hockey blog "Backhand Shelf."

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If you have a great suggestion, question, idea, or just some awesome pictures that would suit the flavour of Bourne's Blog, send them to me at JTBOURNE@GMAIL.COM and I'll happily try to work 'em in. In general, I prefer all other remarks to be left in the comments section so we can participate in the conversation together.

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To my Mom, Dad, Glenn, brother Jeff and my fiance Brianna... thank you, I love you guys. Also, Uncle Ken, you've been an immeasurable help in this and I'm infinitely grateful. All my love to Aunt Kathy and Grandma, two of my favourite people in the world. Also to the extended family in Saskatchewan, I miss you guys. Thanks to friends like Neil Corbett and Dave Cunning for your support in an obscure endevour like this, and to friends like Charlie Kronschnabel and Nick Lowe for being guys who'll like me and not care (or possibly ask) why or what weird project I'm scheming on now. And thanks to all you long-lost-but-still-important friends I didn't mention. You know who you are.